Overseas students in Australian higher education: a quick guide

The latest
figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that, in
2017–18, international education was worth $32.4 billion to the Australian
economy, up from $28.1 billion in 2016–17. Recent
research for the Department of Education (DoE) shows Australia also gains social,
cultural and skilled workforce benefits from international education.

This quick guide provides an overview of key information related
to overseas students in Australian higher education. Higher education accounted
for 68.5 per cent ($22.2 billion) of international education export
income in 2017–18, and 45.6
per cent of all overseas student enrolments in 2018.[1]
Overseas students also enrol in Australian vocational education and training
(VET), schools, English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students
(ELICOS), and non-award courses. However, each of these accounts for fewer
students and has less economic impact than overseas student enrolments in higher
education.

While people studying in Australia on a student visa are
often referred to as ‘international students’, this quick guide uses the
terminology of ‘overseas students’, which is more commonly used in the Australian
Government’s Education and
Home Affairs portfolios, which
have responsibility for policy and programs related to overseas students.

Except where otherwise indicated, the information provided in
this quick guide relates to the entire higher education sector. Registered higher education
providers are public and private universities, as well as for-profit and not-for-profit
non-university providers, including public institutions such as TAFEs.

Some non-Australian citizens, such as New Zealand citizens,
permanent residents, and permanent humanitarian visa holders are not considered
overseas students for the purposes of higher
education support.

Enrolments

Overseas student statistics are available from the DoE’s international
student data webpage. The latest full-year data is for 2018. As shown in Figure
1 below, there were 398,563 higher education enrolments by people in Australia
on student visas.

Enrolments include new and continuing students. Enrolment
figures can double
count students who complete one course of study and enrol in another within
given period. For example, a student may complete an ELICOS course and then
enrol in a bachelor degree, and have both enrolments counted in the same year.

Enrolments by nationality

Of overseas student enrolments in 2018, 38.3 per cent
(152,591) were from China, and 18.0 per cent (71,857) were from
India, with the remaining top ten nationalities being Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia,
Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Overseas share of higher education
enrolments

DoE’s higher
education statistics provide a breakdown of overseas student enrolments at Australian
higher education institutions, and allow comparison of overseas and domestic
enrolments. The latest full-year for this data is 2017. Table 3 below shows
total higher education enrolments for both overseas students and domestic
students from 2008 to 2017. A breakdown by institution is at Appendix 1.

Source: DoE, ‘Student
data’, DoE website, all students data tables, various years, and Parliamentary
Library calculations.

(a)
‘Other overseas students’ includes those students who are not domestic
students, and who are residing outside Australia during the unit of study/time
of application. Students studying in Australia on student visas make up the
bulk of the enrolments shown in the ‘temporary entry visas’ column. Further
information about the citizenship classifications is available via DoE, HEIMSHELP.

Visa arrangements

Types of overseas student visas

Recent changes
have reduced the number of student visas from seven to one, the Student
(subclass 500) visa. Instead of distinct visas for different types of
overseas students, there are now seven streams within the one visa: higher
education; post-graduate research, VET, schools, independent ELICOS, foreign affairs
or defence, and non-award. There is also a distinct student
guardian visa, but these students are outside
the scope of this quick guide.

International students studying
in the higher education sector are predominantly granted student visas under
the higher education and postgraduate research streams (see Tables 4 and 5
below).

Visa processing

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) assesses and grants
student visa applications. However, under the DHA’s Simplified
Student Visa Framework (the Framework), higher education providers also
have a role, with the intention of reducing duplication and streamlining the
process.

Two key areas where higher education providers have a role are
in confirming English language proficiency and assessing the financial capacity
of students to live in Australia. Depending on the higher education provider and
the student’s country of origin, these requirements may not be further assessed
by DHA. While the DHA retains the ability to assess any requirement for a
student visa, the Framework does not mandate this.

Visa grants

Overseas student visa statistics are available from DHA, via
the data.gov.au portal under Student
visa program. The most recent full-year data is for 2018. The data show
the number of visas granted, which is distinct from the number of overseas
students as one overseas student may be granted more than one visa in a period
of time, depending on their circumstance.

As shown in Table 4 below, there were 188,567 primary
student visas granted in 2018 for the higher education and postgraduate
research streams. ‘Primary’ refers to the person who holds the visa for the
original purpose while ‘secondary’ refers to any spouses and/or dependent
children.

Table 4 also shows the growth in primary student visas
granted in the higher education stream from around 2011 to 2018, after a period
of sustained downturn between
2008 and 2011.

Note:
these figures include the higher education and postgraduate research streams of
the student (subclass 500) visa.

When using visa statistics, including student visa
statistics, the number of visas granted should not be used as a proxy for the
number of people migrating to Australia. This is because a significant
proportion of higher education overseas student visas are granted to people who
are already in Australia, as shown in Table 5 below. Students gain visas in
Australia for a variety of reasons, including moving from one mode of education
to another, or transitioning from a different category of temporary visa to a
student visa.

Note:
these figures include the higher education and postgraduate research streams of
the student (subclass 500) visa.

Table 5 also shows primary student visas granted to people already in Australia over the past
decade. The share of student visas granted in Australia as a proportion of the
total has been relatively stable at about
one-third, except from 2009 to 2013. Due in part to immigration policy
changes, the proportion of primary student visas granted in Australia grew
from 2008 to 2011 and then declined.

have sufficient money to support living in Australia (section
500.214)

have adequate health insurance (section 500.215)

be a ‘genuine temporary entrant’ with the intention to return
home after studying (section 500.212) and

meet English language requirements (section 500.213).

Full-time study

An overseas student cannot undertake part-time study. A
full-time course of study is required and this is linked to the length of each student
visa. In most instances, this means overseas students are unable to vary their
course load (medical and other exceptions are available).

English language requirements

In practice, English
language requirements for overseas students are subject to two thresholds:

higher education providers also include their own English
language proficiency requirements as part of entry requirements, which can be
higher than the minimum entry score prescribed by the Australian Government.

IELTS is a widely used
English language proficiency testing system. Four other types of proficiency
tests are available for visa applicants,
with equivalent minimum test scores.

Work rights

While the purpose of the overseas student visa program is
study, rather than employment, people on student visas do have work
rights. Currently, they may work up to 40 hours per fortnight when their
course is in session (that is, during term time) and unlimited hours in holiday
periods.

Tuition fees

fees charged to overseas students must be sufficient to recover
the full cost of providing the course to the student and

the fee cannot be less than the relevant domestic student fee,
unless the course is fully offshore or permission for the lower fee is granted
by the responsible department (currently DoE).

The Guidelines do not set an upper limit for overseas
student fees.

According to the Australian Government’s Study
Australia webpage, Australian higher education providers charge on average $15,000
to $33,000 for an undergraduate bachelor degree and $20,000 to $37,000 for a
postgraduate Masters degree. (These figures do not include high-cost courses
such as veterinary and medical degrees.)

Overseas student fees as a proportion of university
revenue

For Australian universities, overseas student fees have
been the largest source of revenue growth in recent years.

As shown in Table 6 below, revenue from overseas student
fees has grown as a proportion of total revenue, from 15.5 per cent in 2008 to
23.3 per cent in 2017 (latest year available). The $1,208 million increase
in revenue from overseas students from 2016 to 2017 accounted for 64.2 per cent
of the total increase in all revenue for the same period ($1,881 million).

89 per cent are satisfied with their overall study experience
(stable compared with 2016)

91 per cent are satisfied with the quality of support provided
(up from 89 per cent in 2016)

88 per cent are satisfied with the overall learning environment (up
from 87 per cent in 2016)

92 per cent are satisfied with the expertise of lecturers (down
from 93 per cent in 2016) and

94 per cent are satisfied with the safety of living in Australia
(up from 90 per cent in 2016).

Student achievement

Attrition rates

The DoE’s higher
education statistics collection includes attrition (‘drop out’) data by
citizenship status. For overseas students, the attrition rate increased from
8.9 per cent in 2008 to 9.4 per cent in 2016, while for domestic students the
increase was from 12.6 per cent to 15 per cent in 2015, before declining to
14.3 per cent in 2016.

Note: the best available attrition
measures for domestic and overseas students differ. The domestic student
attrition rateused in Table 6 is the ‘new adjusted attrition rate’,
which uses student ID and the Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN) to track students within and between
institutions, so a student is not counted in the attrition figures if they move
to another institution. The overseas student attrition rate used in Table 6
is the ‘new normal attrition rate’, which is based on student ID only
(overseas students do not have a CHESSN). This means overseas students who move
to another institution are counted in the attrition figures, leading likely to over-estimates
of attrition among overseas students in the Table 7.

Post-study visa pathways

There is no automatic pathway from a student visa to a
permanent residency visa in Australia.

However, overseas students can transition to various types
of permanent residency visas if they meet the relevant eligibility criteria. A
joint Treasury
and Department of Home Affairs report published in 2018 found that, of 1.6
million overseas students (from all education sectors) granted a visa between
2000–01 and 2013–14, 16 per cent transitioned to a permanent residency visa at
some stage after arriving in Australia.

Table 8 below shows 13,138 permanent residency visas were
granted to people holding an international student visa in Australia in
2017–18, the lowest figure in a decade.

Table 8: permanent residency visas
granted to former international students in Australia, 2008–09 to 2017–18

Note: these statistics are only available
for financial years. Also note the title for this table is drawn directly for
the sourced material from the Department of Home Affairs.

However, international students who transition to another
temporary visa, before gaining a permanent residency visa, are not included in
the departmental data above. Given the increasing number of Temporary
Graduate visas (Table 9 below), it is likely more people are transitioning
from a student visa to a different category of temporary visa and then gaining
a permanent residency visa. There is no publicly available data on this group
of people.

A Temporary Graduate visa allows a migrant to live, study
and work in Australia after completing their study. Only people who hold a
student visa are eligible for the various streams of the Temporary Graduate
visa.

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